


[This] isn’t the End of the World, but You can See [No Longer Redundant: it] From Here

by Kameiko



Category: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Fluff, Goodbyes, Humor, Love, M/M, Memories, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-10 21:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18416219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/pseuds/Kameiko
Summary: If Pritchard could see Adam now, he would be yelling in the info-link, demanding an essay on the proper use of proverbial sayings; especially, one that focuses on two different meanings in one sentence. What is the first it? Both it's? All Eliza really needs to say is: This isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here. The end! No more grammar confusion! Adam then would snarkily remind Pritchard that he's over thinking things as he usually does, which in turn causes a hysterical fight recorded for the ages by their peers. In the end, no one really complains as their day has been made.





	[This] isn’t the End of the World, but You can See [No Longer Redundant: it] From Here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Perversion_Incarnate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perversion_Incarnate/gifts).



> I don't own any franchises, products, and characters mentioned in this story. My work is purely for everybody's enjoyment, and I would like to keep it that way. Having ownership over all this that requires contracts and other lawful fruitfulness is just too much responsibility. I am not ready for that kind of work, nor does my massive paycheck of $0.00 show for it in the world of fanfiction.
> 
> Perversion_Incarnate! Step right up! This one's for you, dear! I hope you enjoy this! It's all kinds of interesting with a dash of weirdness! According to the summary, that is. Did the summary lie? Probably! But that doesn't mean it's not relevant to the fic! Pritchard does like to carry that red pen with him everywhere he goes! 
> 
> Hope you and everyone enjoy!

A clear Infolink signal. This was all Adam Jensen needed. He stepped outside into the cold arctic, with no sign out of life anywhere around him. He knocked out all the hostile ones out in a vain attempt knowing that the only acceptable choice was to blow up the station. Everyone would die, but that was the cost of a small price of life he had to be paid in order to save billions of people on this planet. That cost even exceeded his own percentage of life, not that the survival rate was high for him at the start. God, he wished he had pack of smokes right now. He needed something to take his mind off the blanked-out signal his HUD kept telling him.

_Signal lost. Signal lost. Signal lost._

Almost like a wave length going up and down, up and down. Annoyed, Adam kicked the snow under his foot. He just wanted to have a few minutes alone with him, before everything collapsed on top of his body. The force alone from the PSI spouting out of a twisted valve was going to shoot a hole right through his iron lung before the water even thought about touching his ankles. At least that was what Eliza Cassan had told him.

_Signal lost. Signal lost. Signal lost._

Or the thing that decides to fly off the pipe to smack him in the face, killing him on impact first. He snorted and sat down. The warmth in his augmented butt keeping the snow at bay and possibly melting into a steaming mess around his glutes. Question remained: how did he get back up here anyway? The lift was a one-way ticket, and as far as he was concerned, there was no way back up from the fire that destroyed nearly everything above. The obvious answer would be to say Eliza hacked into the computer mainframe to force a restart. That wouldn’t be too hard for her, but if it was that easy, then she would’ve shut down the Hyron Project before Zhao fried herself to a crisp.

_Signal lost. Signal lost. Signal lost._

What a poetic end to the injustice the illuminati agent brought upon herself. Tithing at the thought discussed him. He placed it in the back of his mind to prevent mental harm upon himself. He had other things to worry about than wondering about a different outcome that was too late to change. Four available options before him, and he had to pick the choice to blow up the facility before he could temporarily leave. Why? It was the end of the world, and he had a front row seat at all the smoke around the other areas of the ice kingdom. He stood back up, arms stretched out, and let the wind ride through his hair.

_Signal lost. Signal lost. Signal lost._

Boats and miniature subs are moving off in the distance. Flares went up to signal for help. Adam doesn’t want to know who would see them. He had a feeling that the pseudo-survivors here were going to find out when they woke up. He hoped that David Sarif, despite what that man told Adam down there, made it off this rock. Was Taggart among them too? A repulsive man as well, but he didn’t deserve to die here. He had to answer for his crimes, no, he needed to answer for his crimes back in the states! Sicko knew what the thing down below was. He had a chance to stop it! But so did Hugh Darrow! Even after Adam convinced him to give up those codes, he still glared at him with that tired expression. The man was not easy to please. Adam doubted that he even made it out of his seat much less to the rafts.

_Signal Recovered. Reaching…Reaching…Reaching…_

Some hope. Adam thought he lost it all when he decided to come sit out on this frozen tundra. He stood up and answered the call. “Pritchard? That you? The signal here still a bit foggy. Eliza said I only had a few short minutes with you. I have something that I wanted to say to you. This won’t happen again, because I will not make it out alive. Can you hear me?”

_Reaching…Reaching…Reaching…_

Adam closed his eyes and continued, “I love you. I am sorry that I didn’t get a chance to say this to you in the last couple of days. Going through the end of the world can be a real pain. Heh, knowing you, I would be corrected on that famous saying. Said two ‘it’s’ in a single sentence lead to redundancy issues and the fact the quote was from a song or from the mind of someone trying to convey two different meanings. I wanted you to know, they did a really bad job at it.”

_Reaching…Reaching…Reaching…_

Adam started his journey back to the main building. Time was precious. Time was sacred. The signal would drop any minute. Any minute Adam would be forced to make a recording for Eliza to transmit out to his boyfriend, wherever he may be at. Pritchard didn’t really tell anyone where he was going. He didn’t get the biochip upgrade, or he would be talking nonsense through the I-Link and try to kill Jensen off by banging on something that made a loud noise in order to make the other man’s ears explode. Adam bitterly laughed to himself. This was something a very wrong in the head Pritchard would do, just to knock some sense into Adam.

_Reaching…Weak Signal…Signal disruption in less than 30 seconds…_

The signal started to fade away. Adam realized he didn’t have much time left. “I still have that stuffed green dinosaur that you won for me at the amusement park. You hung that thing over my work space so many times I…ripped the tail off. I am sorry for that. It was no accident. I did it on purpose so you would stop making it the next ‘elf on the shelf’. I would give anything to bring that memory back into reality.”

_20 seconds…_

“I just couldn’t stand the stupid smile it gave me! Who gifts someone like me a green happy T-Rex? What were you thinking, Francis?” Adam let out a dry chuckle. Typical of Pritchard to play those awful pranks. Win the grumpy-stoic man happy things and maybe he would be happy too! Nice try, Pritchard. Next time win him the Grumpy Cat. Then he would have a happy companion to snuggle with at night when Pritchard wasn’t there in his arms. He missed the warmth and tugging at that ponytail.

_10 seconds…_

Closer to the lift. The bridge collapsed behind him as soon as he made it across, the unconscious people falling with it to their doom. He looked behind him one more time. Wanting to see if the mounted turret would fire at him. It didn’t. “I walked under a turret without disabling it first. You would’ve yelled for my safety. Demand the machine to come out of hiding and take some responsibility for not paying attention to things that would kill me. Kidding.”

_Signal Interrupted…Signal lost…Signal lost…_

Adam switched his connection to Eliza. “Eliza, were you able to find Pritchard’s home GPL?”

“Yes, Adam. He was unable to pick up. I don’t know if he received your previous messages. I did save a backup. Would you like me to add them to the transmission?” Eliza’s avatar, nicely displayed in the top of Adam’s HUD. She looked…sad. Her eyes downcast. She herself trying to remedy the situation through her code. Things were not looking good in that department.

Adam thought about it. The last few were something heartfelt and wholesome. He wanted Pritchard to hear them, but at the same time, he wanted to say something different. Something more like himself. Wanted to leave an everlasting loving impression that would bring more joy than pain. A foot not in the grave but in the heart. Besides, the toy had a ripped tail. Who would wanted to be reminded of that? It was in the trash can next to his desk. Adam knew that Pritchard would never be able to retrieve it with everything going on.

“Adam? The lift moving you downward meant you don’t have much time when the building started to collapse.” Eliza opened something that resembled an audio file in the middle of Adam’s face. “Please record what you want to say now.”

This was it, wasn’t it? Taking a deep breath, Adam went subvocal and started to talk, more like ramble, “Pritchard…Francis…Frank, I’m…Ok, I really don’t know what to say at this time. I am going to get straight to the point. Live out your life. Get out of Detroit. Do something else with yourself. You want to write a TV show pilot again? About me? Yeah, you wouldn’t think I would notice but I did, and it was God damn brilliant!”

He watched it. All of it. Even though the show ended after one season due to the controversy surrounding non-consensual enhancements, it remained close to Adam’s non-consensual beating heart. The rough-beat looking detective in the Dick Tracey, but black with a white _Fer-De-Lis_ etched pattern, type of outfit made Adam’s likeness-body look ridiculous. Not to mention the black fedora, with the same pattern, would make the eyes look like an emotionless Noir outsider. How did this show even survive three episodes much less an entire season? Adam had no idea. Maybe he can ask Eliza to give him the algorithm of TV’s that just tuned in on the station and were too lazy to change the channels or find the remote. Add that playful nonsense to the recording just to rile Pritchard up. That would sound more like Adam, wouldn’t it?

Eliza interrupted Adam’s inner monologuing, “I added your thoughts about the pilot episode to the recording.”

She said that without a single rational thought. Adam’s face was burned red. He didn’t want that in the recording! “Wait! Eliza! That wasn’t what I really wanted! He…”

Would hate him? Surely, but he would be dead to care. Can’t hate a dead guy, can he? Adam rubbed his temples. This continuing journey down to Hell wasn’t going to be an easy ride. He closed his eyes and stepped off the lift when it reached its destination. He had no time to fix the path of good intentions. The long hallway in front of him started its warpath to tear away into doom. He had to quickly run and jump over one part of the tiled way. He looked behind him, one body started to slip to down into the darkness. Adam goes to grab the medic. She had no play in this. She was only lined up by the door for him to search her body to grab a candy bar for his fight with Zhao. He felt guilty if he just lets her body flop into the crumbling wires.

Eliza watched the scene in front of her. Taking into careful consideration of Adam’s choice. Standing there, continuing to risk his life to stop someone from drowning. Truth be told, this made her experience sad pity. She can’t be saved. None of them this far down have a chance to see the sunlight again. The edge of the path would bring Adam down before he had a chance to activate the button before the place fell to complete ruin. His message to Pritchard wouldn’t be sent out, so she did what she had to do. She forced the door close, making Adam let go of the woman’s hand.

“What did you do that for? She would’ve been saved! Pritchard would’ve been saved!” He wasn’t thinking clearly. He was pacing the room, stepping over the broken box guards and unconscious soldiers before kneeling in front of the enclosed capsules. Yes, he chose to lock the women back into their prison to die there. This was their watery tomb. This was his tomb.

What was he thinking? He placed his head into his hands. Pritchard, this was all he could think about. In this state, the people around him don’t matter anymore. He was forcing himself to save a few people, knowingly they can’t be. He didn’t want to let them down. He didn’t! He wanted to show Pritchard that his death would save them. He wasn’t going to drown just for himself. He was going to wake up beside him, hands interlocked, and his other half would make some snark remark about an unhealthy breakfast that included too many servings of Lucky Charms. Pritchard loved eating the little marshmallows out of the box; especially, the rainbows. That was what Adam would’ve wanted. He wanted that delusional happy ending.

Eliza needed to get Adam to push forward. Still continuing to record the messages going through Adam’s subconscious, even if he doesn’t realize what he was repeating them loudly in his brain. This was good material to leave Pritchard with. All the thoughts and care that the man held deeply within his heart. Out in the open on a recorded audio file. Still, he needed to move. She made one of the doors open very loudly. He needed to be snapped out of his trance. She made an offer that was beneficial for him. Walk to the end of the corridor down the long hallway while thinking out loud. Think of the fondest memories he had with Pritchard. He reluctantly agreed with a frown. He wasn’t sure if Eliza really needed to hear it, but she assured him that she knows what sex was. After all, she wasn’t a pre-programed sentient idiot.

_The first time we made love didn’t go exactly as planned. You complained too much about my augmentations being cold, and the alloy on my padded hands were too hard on your precious skin. Touching you was nearly an impossible task. When I did manage to find those pressure points on your body you slapped my hands away and told me to warm them up under the tap water. I did. Somehow that placebo head of yours had sex turned into the best stress relief we ever had. Afterwards, we found ways to improve over time with the limitations we were given. Who knew military grade augmentations can come in…handy._

_What about the bike you were working on? I’ve seen all the hard work you’ve put into it. I want to let you know that you did a good job. I hope you used it to make your escape. I might’ve opted in its computer programing to make it go really fast. Faster than a horde of clickers chasing after you. When riding it, pretend you’re in Japan where the police won’t chase after you. You’re too fast and furious for them on that moped. Just please remember to wear a helmet. You’re always nagging me about my safety, so here I am returning the favor. Karma wins. Also, knee pads, because you’re really clumsy._

_Speaking of clumsy, did you beat the final boss yet in that video game you’re always wanting me to get into? Final…Final…Fatal Final Chiron 26? Or something along those lines? I don’t remember, sorry. I just remember the main character’s head blocking the name of that poster on your wall. Future note to you: don’t buy posters that purposely block out the titles name, no one’s going to be able to figure it out otherwise, and people talking to you looked awkward enough. Kidding. God, I am being a dork about video games today. I rather go back to talking about are awkward experiences during sex._

_You know, I am being serious about the pilot episode. If I live through this can I be in it? We can make it a not scene…where you and I both are in it, holding hands, fighting past the society around us that gives us those looks, telling us we’re not welcomed here just because we’re augmented in different ways. That studio needs to give you a raise. Maybe convince Sarif to give me one too, if a company still existed after this. I don’t think it will. A future sorry to your bike if you don’t have it yet, Pritchard._

_Pritchard…no, Frank, I lo-_

“Adam, no time for anything else…I’m sorry.” Eliza intervened in Adam’s conversation before he spoke another word in his head, cutting the connection and started the upload.

Adam wasn’t happy with the way she handled the call. He felt angry at her. The world started to crumble around him, emotionally and physically. A crack in the ceiling caused a small amount of debris to fall through and knock Adam on the head. The world really going to collapse after this, and he wasn’t allowed to finish telling his boyfriend he loved him. All he needed was an extra second. A measly extra second! He pounded his wrist on the button, causing the valves around him to come off their hinges and hit the wall behind him due to the high-water pressure. This didn’t stop him from continuously hitting the button.

“I am sorry, Adam. The upload-“ Eliza’s screen cuts off Adam’s HUD.

 Adam only stopped when his augmentations forced him into a comatose state.

_You have two new uploads._

Pritchard turned the lights on in his apartment. Things are a mess outside and in his house. Some of the unstable augmented people came by to throw things at his windows and destroy his piece of furniture. The only thing that managed to halfway survive was the built-in personal computer in the walls. Protectively hidden behind a secret compartment, thanks to Adam’s genius idea that Pritchard won’t admit. He sighed at the thought. Damnit, he missed him…

Pritchard learned his head against the wall, tiredly he asked for the playback. The computer complied and started to playback the first recording that was supposed to fail but didn’t.

_I still have that stuffed green dinosaur-_


End file.
